US Open seeds fell on the Djokovic branch

Before the tournament, Ruud is likely to fight Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Tsitsipas is expected to be Nole's opponent in the quarterfinals. Both lost after five sets in the series on August 30, against much lower-rated opponents.

Ruud hangs 4-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-0, 2-6 at the hands of Zhang Zhizhen, who is outside the top 60 in the world. Last year's runner-up played under-strength, served poorly and could not maintain the ability to hit the back of the court, which is his forte. Ruud had to save 17 break-points in nearly four hours of play. Meanwhile, Zhang has 18 aces out of 60 winners – all of which are ahead of the competition.

Zhang's biggest victory came when he became the first Chinese to defeat an opponent in the world's top 5 since the ATP scoreboard was introduced in 1973. The 26-year-old, 1m93 tall tennis player will play Rinky Hijikata in the third round.

Besides Ruud, Tsitsipas also continued to experience a forgettable season. The Greek tennis player seems to have not regained 100% of his form after recovering from his injury. He let qualifying opponent Dominic Stricker drag him into long balls, games and sets, before losing 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Stricker, 21 years old, is playing in New York for the first time but appears stubborn. He was led 3-5 in set four, then immediately regained the break point and won the tie-break series against his senior. In the final set, the young Swiss talent won the first game of blocking the ball, creating a 4-1 lead and not allowing the opponent to earn a break point, before winning 6-3.

The high seeds fall, causing Djokovic's bracket to become lighter with each round. The 23rd Grand Slam owner will meet fellow countryman Laslo Djere in round three, then possibly Jiri Vesely in round four. In the quarterfinals, the biggest opponent Djokovic could face is ninth seed Taylor Fritz, who lost him for the seventh consecutive match in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati last week.

Djokovic's path to the final is wide open as his semi-final arm is also very light. Frances Tiafoe is the highest seed left in this branch, but is having a mixed season. Other seeds like Adrian Mannarino, Tommy Paul, Davidovich Fokina were all underrated ahead of this year's US Open.